Improvement in the construction of water-wheels



J. TAYLOR.

WATER WHBBL. I

Patented Sept. 11, 1841.

NR&

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

;IESSE TAYLOR, OF AURELIUS, NEW YORK.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 2,249, dated September 11, 1841.

To all whom, 'it my concern:

Be it known that l, JESSE TAYLOR, of the town of Aurelius, county of Cayuga, and State of New York, have' invented a new, useful,

and Improved Mode of Constructing a \Vater-- Wheel and Applyiug Water to the Same; and I do herehy declare that the following is a full and exact description.

The nature of my invention consists in applying the water to the wheel hy an aperturc in the bottom and in the center of the same, the wheel to be covered on the top, or the upper part of the wheel to be closedmot permitting the escape of any water from the top, the wheel to be closed in the bottom, excepting said aperture in the center and apert ures in the bottom and near the outer edge ot the wheel, through which last apertures the water enterin, the aperture first above referred to escapes, which apertures are at or near right angles from the center of the wheel, the wheel put in motion and kept in motiou by the reaction of the water in cscaping from the apertures between the outer and inner rims of the wheel, the wheel to be placed upon a trunk, int'o which the water descends, said t-runk to be close, so as -to allow no water to escape from it, excepting through its outlet, which is directly under the center of the wheel, a circular rim or plate to be fastened to the trunk around the aperture in the trun k, which extends npward into the aperture. in the bottom of the wheel, the outer edge of said rim or plate to be as near the outer edge of the aperture in the wheel as can be and at the same time not have the said rim or plate obstruct the turning ot the wheel, the rim or plate to be tirnly fixed upon the trnnk, the shaft of the wheel to stand perpendicular to bc firmly fixed to the upper part or cover of the wheel, and the lower end to set upon and run in a step or block in the trunk or a bridge-tree in the trunk.

To enable others'skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its operation amlconstruction, reference being had to the annexed drawings of the same, in which Figure l is a top View of the wheel without the shaft or cover, in order to show the interiorconstruction. Fig. 2 is a side View of the wheel. Fig. 3 is a sectional View.

The water is let into a chute' by a gate B,

which chute conveys the water into a trunk C, which trunk may be of any shape and of a size proport-ioned .to the Water required, as may he also the ehute. The truuk is closed entirely, except an aperture where the water enters it and at an aperture where it escapes from it, in which last-mentioned aperture the lower end of the sha-ft I) of the wheel E enters the truuk. The last-mentioned aperture is of a ci-oular form. On the top of the trunk there is a circular tube, ot cast-iron or other met-al or Wood, firnly attached to the trunk, so as to allow the water to pass from said trunk through said tube into the wheel, and to be ot' the diameter of the aperture in the center ot' the bottom of the wheel, into which it passcs, but not to fit so tight as to prevent the wheel from turning freely on it.

The wheel E is constructed of two conceutric rinis G H. The distance or space I between them is to be dimiishcd or increased in proportion to the amount ot water required, as are also the height and thickuess of the rims. The outer rim G of the wheel is entirely solid. The inncr rim ll is open at iutervals J to adnit the water to pass from the center of the wheel to the buckets and issues near the circunference, which are in the space I, before nentioned, between the rims. The outer rim' is deeper than the inner rim, in order to fit into a groove in the top. From the inncr rim to the outer rim, radiating from the center of the wheel, heads K are placed and secured to the inside ot the rinis, which may he placed at any required distance from either end of the sections of the inside rim, but which should be placed nearer one end ot' each section than the other, which heads are level with the top of the inner rim,but extend down only half their depth, and under which .are forned the issues L, the depth ot said heads being more or less, in proportion to the quantity of water required to he used. Those heads are placed perpendicular in the wheel and are all of the same height.

The bottom M of the wheel is ot' wood,castiron, or any suitable metal, and is of the same diameter as the `outer rim ot the wheel, and may be of any thickness. The onter and inner rinis are firmly attached to the bottom of the wheel by bolts, screws, or otherwise. The bottom of the wheel, from the ends of the sections of the inner rim of the wheel to the outlet ol' the wheel, is inelincd downward, :s ;it N, at an nclination of halt' an inch to a foot,

more or less, in "op0rtion to the thickness ot the bottom of the wheehuntil the inclination reaches a line perpendicular with the side of the aforesaid head near-est to said iuclination. Next the side of the heads opposite the inclinatiou above mentioned, and in the spaces I, a e forncd inclined planes O, of plank or cast-iron or other material, attaehed to the rims, and the said plank inelines at an angle of half an iuoh to a foot, more or less, until it,

Four or more apertures are made in the bot-` tom of the wheel, ili-.the space between the rins, according to tliel uantity 'ot' power or water required, for the* pu r ?se t' 'lischarcing from the wheel the water pi sing' into the same through 'the tube.

The top P of the wheel above described is of wood, cast-iron, or other material, and is of any required thickness, and is securely fastened to said wheel by bolts, screws, or otherwise, and is of the same diameter as the bottom above described. edge of the lower side of the, top there is a groove of a width "equal to 'the thiekness of the outer rim, and the inner rim is as much lowerthan the outer as the depth of the groove. From the point where the inner side of the inner rim joins the top toward the center the top may be slightly convex on the outside and concave on the under side. lt may, how ever, be fiat. 'On the center of said top I place the hub Q., and firmly fasten the same to the top.. through which 'I place a shat't I), which is firmly fixed in said top and hub, which is larger or smaller` in proportion to the power required, and which is of wood, castdron, or other metal.

The-advantages of this wheelover others are: that by discharging the water through the bottom it does not obstruet the motion of the Around the outer wheel, as it would if disclargcd l'ron the top or sides; that it will run though entirelycow ered with water; that all the water which enters the wheel has an ell'eet in propelling it; that the cost of the wheel is smaller than that ol' other wheels; that the notion of the whcel'is more steady and regular; thatit re quires less water than other wheels, and that the water lifts the wheel, and consequently takes off the friction and wear of the shaft in the step.

\\'hat l claim as ny invention, and which I desire to secure by Letters Patcnt, is-

The before-described. Construction of the water-wheel, in combination with the t runk, collar, and chute for admitting the water through the center of the bottom of the wheel to the interier thercof and causing it. to escape near thecircumfereuce through small apertures, which has the ell'ect of turning the wheel in a contrary direction to that of the es ape of the water-that is to say, combininr with the trunk, collar, and chute, as aforosaid, a hollow drum or \\"leelconstructed with a circular rim and a concaVo-convex head fixed to said rim, and to which head the shaft is fixed, and with a bottom which is also fastened to-the said rim, with a cireular aperture the-e'ter of said bottom for the admisou 'of water and a series of small apertures near its periphcry in a circle concentric with the circle of the center apcrture for its dischat-go, ;the interier being hollow, with a rim made insegmonts of less diameter than the outer rim,arrangcl in a circle coneentrie with the outer rim, Ter-mine; a space between the two rinis, in which are arranged inclined planes over the before-mentioned small aperturcs, the app'oach to which is also inclined planes formed on the bot'oimovcr which vertical heads are fixed, between which and the lastncntioned iuclined planes the water passes to the issues from the center of the wheel through spaces in the in ner segment-- rim, as before described.

JESSE TAYLOR.

witnesses:

EDWARD ALLEN, J r., WILLIAM ALLEN. 

